The Michael Bisio Quartet (Bisio on bass, Avram Fefer on alto, soprano, and tenor sax, clarinet, bass clarinet, and flute, Stephen Gauci on tenor sax, and Jay Rosen on drums) recorded this record after a late night gigging in New York City. They drove to Albany after the gig, got some sleep before taking another ride to Rossie, N.Y. and that night, after supper, dug in to record the session.

“Man it’s cold outside! Never above zero, pretty extreme for a cat that has spent most of the last twenty-five years on the left coast,” Bisio writes in his liner notes. “Fire’s blazing, not roaring, thanks to our producer’s skills, probably learned in the scouts or at a buffalo round-up. The fuel is spectacular.” And so begins Bisio’s new record.

“Blue State”, the first cut on the disc, starts out like a study in the Ornette Coleman/Eric Dolphy handbook. And that’s a good thing. Bisio isn’t stealing on this track, he is studying; there is great groove alongside the semi-free counterpoint rollicking along. About a third of the way into the nine-minute track, all drop out but Bisio and Fefer. The bass and sax chase each other around the chart in an amazingly playful style. Then, for the last third, the groove comes back in with Rosen riding heavy. While the first groove was driven by the interplay of the woodwinds, this groove is a more solo drive until all hell breaks loose.

This album is incredibly eclectic. The first track is not wholly indicative of the rest, although the Bisio style runs throughout. The second cut is a longer, more free improvisation. Bisio’s playing and composition is incredibly developed. He is a mature composer working with mature musicians. The album is “out-there” while still feeding into a traditional jazz style.

Unlike the latest Anthony Braxton release, you could not mistake this record for a classical one. It still fits a jazz ideal. And I definitely don’t think that is a bad thing in any way. Fitting a mold entirely is uncreative, but going out on a limb while still grounding oneself in the basics the way Bisio does, makes for an amazing record.